5 Mistakes That Dancers Make

“It’s not how we make mistakes, but how we correct them that defines us.” – Rachel Wolchin

As a ballet dancer, it is important to know how to protect yourself from injury. At Alberta Ballet School, we believe in a proactive approach to ensure that common mistakes are corrected quickly to prevent injury.

We believe that there are 5 common mistakes that many dancers can work to avoid. Our teachers spend time on technique to help students identify and correct these ballet missteps:

1. 1. Rolling Ankles

Ankle and foot injuries are the most common in ballet dancers. Many of the most damaging mistakes come from a dancer’s turnout. It is important to make sure that your body is well aligned, and feet are flat on the ground with all ten toes touching the floor. A good way to check if you are properly turning out, is to plie into first position and see if your knees are over your feet. Your turn out should be an extension of your hip, and your feet should not be more turned out than your knees.

1. 2. Curling Toes

It is common in some ballet dancers to become unaware of when you are curling your toes, also known as toe gripping. As you become a more advanced dancer, it becomes increasingly important to not fall into this habit. Dancers not only need to use muscles in their lower legs to dance, but also need to use the small muscles in their feet and toes. Curling toes shows that you are not using these small foot muscles and overusing lower leg muscles. Overuse of these muscles can lead to painful injuries in the feet.

Alberta Ballet School reminds dancers in the Edmonton and Calgary dance programs to always work to lengthen toes when pointing your feet and to regularly massage under the toes to relax the muscles.

1. 3. Improper Footwear

Your pointe shoes should be supportive, and stable – it is important that you have shoes that fit your foot perfectly. If your shoes do not fit properly, you risk injuring yourself so be sure to go to a professional fitter that is knowledgeable and carries a variety of shoe choices.

Annually our Calgary-based students in professional division are properly fitted for their ballet pointe shoes. Your ballet teacher and a professional fitter should be present during your fitting This is not only an exciting day for students – it is an essential day for our team as we ensure the safety of each dancer through a supportive shoe.

1. 4. Overstretching

Striking a balance between flexibility and strength is important. Many ballet dancers focus more on stretching rather than strengthening but this can lead to overstretching. Overstretching leads to muscle fatigue and weakness. Dancers are strong and a key focus of the Alberta Ballet School dancers is strengthening of muscles.

Our Health and Wellness team, in partnership with local health-care provider Momentum Health, enables all students of Alberta Ballet School to have on-site access to preventative and rehabilitation programs imperative to maintaining the physical health a body requires to dance at an elite level. We encourage students to seek the assistance of our health professionals upon first sign of discomfort promoting an environment where physical health and wellness is a priority. The team can help identify if a student needs to strike a better balance between stretching and strengthening.

1. 5. Hyperextension

The long lines that a ballet dancer can create look beautiful and elegant, but if those long lines are not controlled dancers can face issues of hyperextension. Hyperextension most often exhibits itself in dancers through overstretched ligaments and tendons behind the knee.

Our team works with students to identify if a dancer is hyper extending at the knee; they will work alongside them to help them strive to dance in a more neutral position that creates straight lines with the body.

Students’ physical and mental health is of the utmost importance in meeting the demands of professional training and ensuring each student is performing at their optimum. Alberta Ballet School provides on-site wellness services including physiotherapy, massage, nephropathy, chiropractic care, nutritional and sport psychological care for our students. Students, wellness staff and faculty work in tandem to ensure diagnosis, prognosis, recovery requirements and estimated timeline for return are clearly understood and respected.

To learn more about our dance programs in Calgary and our dance programs in Edmonton contact us.